Anything that can go wrong will happen while I'm shaving...

Beauty handle, eh?! And to have the knot work as well, <chef kiss>!! I always appreciate your humor in your posts. We can all be superstitious about stuff, can't we, like saying something is good and then we fear the next use will prove us wrong! Pharmacy practice has pretty much cemented that in place for me, ha ha!

Absolutely. I find that happens so SO often in shaving. I can't understand it. I will genuinely love a razor, a blade, a soap, whatever. Then, all of a sudden without any trigger I can see (like an evil curse) it'll start irritating me.

I can somewhat understand this with soaps... it could take a few uses for the ingredients to elicit the reaction... maybe? But a blade or razor that has worked for months, then all of a sudden causes irritation?! That's weird voodoo.

We certainly chose a strange hobby Eric.

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With shaving, I think of it as the Honeymoon Syndrome, at least in part. We want our purchases to be successful, to improve something, to offer something different and pleasing, or to solve a problem. So we notice whatever confirms those things. Other times, we just change. Change can be as simple as our skin was well rested at first, but not later. Or it can be as lasting as improved technique or as implementing a more effective skin care regimen.

Anyway, you guys are not alone. There are at least three of us.

Well, my first Boar shave for this DecemBoar was good, but that brush had me wanting. I liked the width of the knot, however it seems a little tall for my liking. The handle, additionally, is not the prettiest and is too light.

Now, I don't mean to look a gift horse in the mouth, I am super grateful to Mike for sending me this brush (as well as it's three brothers). Thus, I have a point that I'm making.

I took it upon myself to drill a hole in the bottom of the brush. I then pushed the knot out. Finally, I cut the collar in several places and was able to snap it off cleanly. After sanding the base down a hair (collared knots apparently have sloppy glue bases, lol) I fit it into the mammoth 28mm handle my wife bought me. Voila!

It needs to dry, but i'm very excited to give it a go on Saturday. In the meantime, I can check out the shave with one of the others.

Again, I mean no disrespect in the above Mike HighSpeed . I just wanted to explain why I took it upon myself to modify the brush you graciously gifted me. Thank you again. I suspect this Boar will be used for many years to come.

(BTW... I didn't take enough, or great, pics. However from these two, I am 99.9% certain I got it set a little lower. Hopefully I hit the nail on the head and set to a 'sweet spot' that will work well and feel great)


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I just want to point this out... I think this handle was meant for this knot. Lol.

Ok, my sickness has reached a new level.

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Congratulations on a very successful transplant, Dr.Mr.Doug! Looks great!

Well, my first Boar shave for this DecemBoar was good, but that brush had me wanting. I liked the width of the knot, however it seems a little tall for my liking. The handle, additionally, is not the prettiest and is too light.

Now, I don't mean to look a gift horse in the mouth, I am super grateful to Mike for sending me this brush (as well as it's three brothers). Thus, I have a point that I'm making.

I took it upon myself to drill a hole in the bottom of the brush. I then pushed the knot out. Finally, I cut the collar in several places and was able to snap it off cleanly. After sanding the base down a hair (collared knots apparently have sloppy glue bases, lol) I fit it into the  mammoth 28mm handle my wife bought me. Voila!

It needs to dry, but i'm very excited to give it a go on Saturday. In the meantime, I can check out the shave with one of the others.

Again, I mean no disrespect in the above Mike HighSpeed . I just wanted to explain why I took it upon myself to modify the brush you graciously gifted me. Thank you again. I suspect this Boar will be used for many years to come.

(BTW... I didn't take enough, or great, pics. However from these two, I am 99.9% certain I got it set a little lower. Hopefully I hit the nail on the head and set to a 'sweet spot' that will work well and feel great)


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Well done mrdoug!

And no offense taken at all.  The transplant is a beautiful brush (Kudos to your wife!), and FWIW I also think the the knot is set lower.  In any case, nothing would make me happier than for the brush to be used for many years to come, as you expect.  

--  Enjoy!

Well, it's January first... happy New year all!

Tomorrow is my first shave of the month, so I plan to start right in with the Gillette Tech.

For those who don't remember, I planned to use the Tech this month as it has been a razor which has eluded me. I can definitely get a shave with it, don't get me wrong, but it has never been a great shave - with me fighting to clear the last of the stubble. I'd like to master the angle, etc until I can come away with a BBS each time.

I will be taking a short break, as a good friend has generously offered to send me a Henson to try for a few shaves. Then it'll be back to the Tech for some more practice.

Also on my new year to-do list is to try my hand at some Lanolin soaps. I cut out both scents and Lanolin quite a few months back. Now that I am happy with the shaves, I wanted to reintroduce the Lanolin and see how it goes.

From talks with Eric MaineYooper , I will definitely be picking up a sample of Stirling Sheep. Rod's a great artisan. If I can get his soaps in my den, that'll be a win.

I will probably grab a few other samples to see how they work. Hopefully, it'll be successful and I'll open back up a lot of soap makers. We'll take it one experimental shave at a time, though.

I have high hopes for 2024, and some great momentum from the end of 2023 (DecemBoar) to start with. Have a great evening folks!



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This evening shave was #2 with Stirling sheep (thanks Eric MaineYooper ). This time I used the 28mm Omega Boar transplant. It was a really good shave. The knot continues to impress, with the many split ends it has. Additionally, the Sheep did another great job with plenty of protective, high quality lather. I really have nothing to complain about... except... I didn't get a picture. To remedy that, I'll use this mash-up I found on the interwebs. It seems to fit the Sheep-Pig shave well... and he looks as Happy with the shave as I am.

(it appears to be an actual breed of pig, btw. Weird stuff!)

Have a good evening folks!

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With all the strange and oddly realistic looking AI generated images, I figured that you'd made it! Dave in KY and ewk had some fantastic Decemboar additions that I meant to ask if they'd made the photos themselves!

And I used Sheep today and was reminded again how good it is. Glad you can enjoy it and happy to enable help you out!

With all the strange and oddly realistic looking AI generated images, I figured that you'd made it! Dave in KY and ewk had some fantastic Decemboar additions that I meant to ask if they'd made the photos themselves!

And I used Sheep today and was reminded again how good it is. Glad you can enjoy it and happy to enable help you out!

Fwiw, it's called a Mangalica - a Hungarian specialty breed pig. Supposedly they're very friendly and easy to domesticate like a dog. Also very cute.

Yes, your enabling skills are quite good Eric. In this case, I am quite appreciative. Lol

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